Thursday, November 19, 2009

Retirement? Really? Could it be?

Wow, after the latest chaser drama, I actually can say that I understand why people become reclusive. I’m talking about well-known storm chasers that seem to drop off the radar. I can think of several that have done this in recent years.

While storm chasers are the best people in the world, they can also be the most eccentric, and can be out and out jerks. There are a lot of ingenious minds in the meteorological/chaser world, and my experience is that geniuses can at times be odd in character-I can’t tell you first hand though, I’m far from being a genius..lol. With all that said, all of our personalities and preferences can clash at times. This clash seems to rear its ugly head during the off season. I mean, one just has to browse the threads over at stormtrack.org to determine what season it is. Winter=multiple chaser drama episodes that can bring out the ugly in all of us. Yes, it has happened to me. I was drawn in to drama and bashed someone with whom I have never even been privileged to shake his hand. That was very Christian of me—not.

When a hobby turns a person into someone that can not have fun or someone that regrets what he/she says to our fellow man, then it’s no longer a hobby, it’s a burden. When that burden comes between two friends, it’s time to release the burden. How? Several ways come to mind.

First there’s the extreme view: Chaser retirement. This option does not seem viable because you will alienate other friends in the chase community and you will lose out of that camaraderie and friendship.

Second: become a recluse. This option parallels the first and should not be given much thought either.

Third: The Smith approach. This I believe is the best option for all and should be widely used by chasers in conflict. Step one-do not log on to Stormtrack during the off-season. I know this is extreme, but there are very few useful threads on there that will make or break a storm chaser at this time. There are several other threads and chaser blogs available for your enjoyment that will keep pressure to become involved in flame wars to a minimum. Read up on chase accounts from chaser websites, compare your forecast to theirs and see if you agreed or not. Finally, the most important step in chaser syndrome is to BAACK UUUPPP from the computer and get out & enjoy your families & friends, and enjoy life! It’s too short for adversities to ruin things for us!

1 comment:

Jeff, I tend to agree with you. The chasing community is becoming more fractured and common civility is beginning to become obsolete.

I really think that the new media frenzy for storm chasing has started bringing in a lot of new people who are more of a thrill seeking type (or fame seeking type) and this is causing a lot of problems.

With so many ego's and competitive types coming into the field I am afraid that the problem may rapidly become worse. With this becoming more of an issue, we may see more of the true weather buffs begin to either get out altogether or certainly become more reclusive. Good post!